The application relates to infant incubators and warmers, and more particularly, to the provision of a lifting mechanism for the patient support surface of an incubator and warmer. In this application, the lifting mechanism will be described as used in an incubator, but it will be appreciated that the mechanism will be useful in an incubator, a warmer, or combination incubator and warmer.
An incubator provides a generally transparent enclosure within which heated air is circulated to minimize the heat loss of an infant. The infant typically lies on a mattress supported by a deck or support surface inside the incubator. Such incubators are typically provided with a large access door to allow for placement or removal of the infant in the incubator, as well as supplemental access ways such as hand ports or small entry doors to permit routine care of the infant while minimizing heat loss from the incubator and the infant.
To provide appropriate care to the infant the caregiver may need to move the infant relative to the incubator. Conventional support surfaces are configured to raise and lower relative to the incubator, giving the caregiver a more convenient work environment inside the incubator. Commonly referred to as trendelenberg and reverse-trendelenberg positions, the support surfaces of conventional incubators are often configured to tilt at both the head and foot ends.
Conventional incubators include independent lifting mechanisms to raise and lower either end of the support surface. This requires the caregiver to engage a first mechanism to tilt one end, then lower that mechanism and then raise a second mechanism to tilt the other end. For example, the caregiver will either manually turn a first hand crank or knob, or engage a first motor, that engages the first lifting mechanism for lifting one end of the surface. If the caregiver wishes to tilt the other end, he/she will first have to lower the first lifting mechanism. This requires the caregiver to either reverse turn the hand crank or knob, or reverse engage the first motor to lower the raised end. Once the raised end is lowered, the caregiver will then have to either manually turn a second hand crank or knob, or engage a second motor, that engages a second lifting mechanism for lifting the other end of the surface. These several motions made by the caregiver take a substantial amount of time and effort to accomplish, thereby, reducing response time and efficiency in moving the patient when needed.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide an infant support surface for an incubator or warmer that includes a mechanism for raising or lowering or tilting or reverse tilting the support surface, which system requires only a single action or reverse action by the caregiver. For example, it would be desirable for the caregiver to have to turn only one hand crank or knob to tilt one end of the surface, and then simply reverse turn the crank or knob to tilt the other end of the surface. It would be advantageous to provide a motor drive arrangement which can be controlled by operating a switch assembly with one hand.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, an infant support for an incubator or a warmer or a combination thereof comprises a support surface for receiving an infant, the support surface having a head end and a foot end, an elevator coupled to each end of the support surface to raise and lower each end, and a drive associated with the elevators. The drive comprises a motor coupled to each elevator and a control for the motors, whereby either end of the support surface may be moved between raised and lowered positions. Each motor is, for example, a stepper motor and is coupled to the associated elevator by a rack and pinion gear unit. A switch is coupled to the control to raise and lower the support surface and tilt the support surface between trendelenberg and reverse-trendelenberg positions.
In another illustrative embodiment, the infant support comprises a head end lifting mechanism for the head end, a foot end lifting mechanism for the foot end, and a driver coupled to the head end lifting mechanism and the foot end lifting mechanism. The driver includes a rotatable drive screw, a bracket coupled to the drive screw for movement along the drive screw, and a line, such as a chain or a cable, coupled to the bracket for movement therewith. Each lifting mechanism comprises idlers in the form of sprockets or pulleys, for example. The line extends past the idlers to couple to an elevator of each lifting mechanism. A bias member, such as a spring, is coupled to one of the idlers to take up slack in the chain during raising or lowering or tilting of the support surface between trendelenberg and reverse-trendelenberg positions.
A caregiver can raise the head end while the foot end remains lowered by causing the bracket to move away from the head end lifting mechanism. Similarly, a caregiver can raise the foot end while the foot end remains lowered by causing the bracket to move away from the foot end lifting mechanism.
In yet another embodiment, the infant support has a support surface, opposing first and second elevators, a driver and first and second drive plate mechanisms. The opposing first and second elevators are movable between raised and lowered positions. The driver is coupled to the support for movement in first and second directions. The first and second drive plate mechanisms are each coupled to the driver. The first drive plate mechanism is configured to move the first elevator to the raised position when the driver is moved in the first direction. The second drive plate mechanism is configured to move the second elevator to the raised position when the driver is moved in the second direction.
In yet another embodiment, the infant support has a support surface lifting apparatus for moving an infant between trendelenberg and reverse trendelenberg positions. The apparatus comprises a support surface, a driver, a pivot member and an actuator. The support surface for supporting the infant is movable relative to the incubator. The pivot member comprises a pair of angularly extending arms pivotally attached to the incubator at the vertex of the arms. The pivot member is also movably coupled to the driver such that each of the arms is engageable with the support surface. The actuator is coupled to the driver to move the arms to engage the support surface for moving each end of the support surface between raised, lowered and level positions.
Additional features and advantages of the application will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following descriptions.